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Ned Block

@neddo.bsky.social

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Ned Block @neddo.bsky.social · 1d

I agree that the line of thought I was sketching is hard to test. But I call your attention to the last sentence of the article: "A breakthrough will be needed for progress, and failing to recognize that a breakthrough is needed may not be conducive to nding it."

Ned Block @neddo.bsky.social · 3d

There are a couple of paragraphs that are supposed to be a reply to this point

Ned Block @neddo.bsky.social · 3d

I’d be glad to do that

Ned Block @neddo.bsky.social · 4d

Understanding whether consciousness depends on computational roles, biological realizers, or both, is crucial for assessing the prospects of consciousness in AI and less complex animals. end/

Ned Block @neddo.bsky.social · 4d

subcomputational biological realizers favors consciousness in simpler animals. Current theories of consciousness are 'meat-neutral', but if specific physical substrates are necessary, AI may never achieve consciousness. 3/

Ned Block @neddo.bsky.social · 4d

processes, are necessary for consciousness. By contrasting computational roles with their subcomputational biological realizers, I show that there is a systematic tension in our criteria for consciousness: prioritizing computational roles favors consciousness in AI, while prioritizing 2/

Ned Block @neddo.bsky.social · 4d

Computational functionalism claims that executing certain computations is sufcient for consciousness, regardless of the physical mechanisms implementing those computations. This view neglects a compelling alternative: that subcomputational biological mechanisms, which realize computational 1/

Ned Block @neddo.bsky.social · 4d

Can Only Meat Machines be Conscious? New paper in Trends in Cognitive Sciences, free download until November 26 with this URL: authors.elsevier.com/a/1luwh4sIRv...

authors.elsevier.com

Ned Block @neddo.bsky.social · 7d

Hmmm…my reply is somewhat similar drive.google.com/file/d/1cIUk...

2025.Michel.Fleming.response.pdf

drive.google.com

Ned Block @neddo.bsky.social · Apr 17

Ned Block @neddo.bsky.social · Apr 5

See tiny red line of link to today's actual news

Ned Block @neddo.bsky.social · Mar 28

Hilarious!

Reposted by Ned Block

Angela Potochnik @apotochnik.bsky.social · Mar 22

I’m shocked my book is on this list. But, cool! Great company.

Brian Weatherson @bweatherson.bsky.social · Mar 22

While waiting for the cricket to start, I thought I'd see what the citation data said about this question. Which new-ish books have been cited at the highest rate in philosophy journals in recent years.

brian.weatherson.org/quarto/blog/...

Author Title Year Citations Rate
Herman Cappelen Fixing Language 2018 240 34.3
Ned Block The Border Between Seeing and Thinking 2023 47 23.5
Errol Lord The Importance of Being Rational 2018 130 18.6
Nicholas Shea Representation in Cognitive Science 2018 130 18.6
Angela Potochnik Idealization and the Aims of Science 2017 140 17.5
Édouard Machery Philosophy Within Its Proper Bounds 2017 136 17.0
Richard Pettigrew Accuracy and the Laws of Credence 2016 152 16.9
Kate Manne Down Girl 2017 127 15.9
Ernest Sosa Judgment and Agency 2015 158 15.8
Karen Bennett Making Things Up 2017 125 15.6
Andy Clark Surfing Uncertainty: Prediction, Action, and the Embodied Mind 2015 150 15.0
Benjamin Kiesewetter The Normativity of Rationality 2017 118 14.8
Catherine Z. Elgin True Enough 2017 108 13.5
Quassim Cassam Vices of the Mind 2019 76 12.7
Sarah Moss Probabilistic Knowledge 2018 88 12.6
Christine Tappolet Emotions, Values, and Agency 2016 112 12.4
Karen Neander A Mark of the Mental 2017 99 12.4
Matthieu Queloz The Practical Origins of Ideas 2021 49 12.2
Ernest Sosa Epistemic Explanations 2021 47 11.8
Neil Levy Bad Beliefs 2021 45 11.2

Ned Block @neddo.bsky.social · Mar 11

Consciousness before birth? Imaging studies explore the possibility | Science | AAAS www.science.org/content/arti...

Consciousness before birth? Imaging studies explore the possibility

Fetal and infant brains offer clues to when human experience begins

www.science.org

Ned Block @neddo.bsky.social · Mar 1

Ned Block @neddo.bsky.social · Feb 10

Goodby global workspace and higher order theories

Ned Block @neddo.bsky.social · Feb 10

First order theories of consciousness win again

Ned Block @neddo.bsky.social · Feb 10

direct.mit.edu/jocn/article...

EEG Decoding of Conscious versus Unconscious Representations during Binocular Rivalry

Abstract. Theories of visual awareness often fall into two general categories, those assuming that awareness arises rapidly within visual cortex and those assuming that awareness arises more slowly as...

Ned Block @neddo.bsky.social · Feb 10

❤️

Ned Block @neddo.bsky.social · Jan 25

Yes and the opposite makes much more sense. To get a conscious state you need a carefully orchestrated group of events but if any one of them goes wrong you fail to get consciousness. Many of those misfires will be unconscious so that is why there are more ways of having an unconscious state

Reposted by Ned Block

Matthias Michel @matthiasmichel.bsky.social · Jan 8

Excellent interview of @neddo.bsky.social (www.youtube.com/watch?v=wM1f...)

Ned Block: Consciousness, Artificial Intelligence, and the Philosophy of Mind

YouTube video by Robinson Erhardt

www.youtube.com

Ned Block @neddo.bsky.social · Dec 20

They don’t mention the dorsal visual system which is adapted to fast motor responses

Reposted by Ned Block

hakwan lau @hakwan.bsky.social · Dec 18

authors.elsevier.com/a/1kHSZ4sIRv...

in this short letter in TICS, @matthiasmichel.bsky.social & @jorge-morales.bsky.social argue against the episodic memory deficit interpretation of aphantasia proposed by @andreablomkvist.bsky.social.

a lack of imagery awareness may be all there is

1/2

authors.elsevier.com

Reposted by Ned Block

hakwan lau @hakwan.bsky.social · Dec 18

since @neddo.bsky.social & i so rarely agree on anything other than restaurant choices, this is possibly legit

2/2

Reposted by Ned Block

Jorge Morales @jorge-morales.bsky.social · Dec 18

I should add that even though we do offer a possible alternative reading of the data to the one offered by @andreablomkvist.bsky.social, her work on aphantasia remains some of the best on the subject. If you’re interested in the topic, you should read her work. bsky.app/profile/hakw...

hakwan lau @hakwan.bsky.social · Dec 18

authors.elsevier.com/a/1kHSZ4sIRv...

in this short letter in TICS, @matthiasmichel.bsky.social & @jorge-morales.bsky.social argue against the episodic memory deficit interpretation of aphantasia proposed by @andreablomkvist.bsky.social.

a lack of imagery awareness may be all there is

1/2

authors.elsevier.com